topic Populating Racks with Initial Inventory in FlexSim Forum

Populating Racks with Initial Inventory

titus_binawa — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 12:37:45 GMT

Hello,

I would like to make a simulation based on data from IRL groceries warehouse. I'm very new to FlexSim and I would appreciate direct help or tips on where I should look for the specific problem that I have.

When I run the model, no items will be processed to be put on the racks. Racks will already be populated and the Operators will begin the process of picking and packing based on the orders. Hence why I want to populate the racks from the beginning.

The model has multiple racks and I want to populate these racks with initial inventory. The initial inventory will use data from an Excel file that I have. Here is a screenshot from the file:

Now, the Shv part is to assign a specific item to a specific level. Shv 1 is on the top of the rack and Shv 8 is on the bottom of the rack. I'm only concerned with putting these items at the correct rack, and at the correct shelf. Is there a way to populate each rack with the data I have? Please provide a step-by-step tutorial for it.

Re: Populating Racks with Initial Inventory

SebastianCanasV — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:14:42 GMT

Hey @titus_binawa , this is a common question, you should start by studying the warehouse demo model. If it rises more question, you should search on this site using keywords. There are plenty of post related to that model or modeling initial inventory

Re: Populating Racks with Initial Inventory

FelixMoehlmann — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 07:18:04 GMT

In addition to what Sebastian said, I would recommend to check out the warehousing overview in the documentation. It explains the main features and should help you understand what is happening in the demo model.

https://docs.flexsim.com/en/25.1/ConnectingFlows/Warehousing/KeyConceptsWarehousing/KeyConceptsWarehousing.html

Note that the demo model is quite old and does not use the "Find Slot" and "Find Item" activities that were introduced later. They combine multiple steps into one activity and I would recommend to use them.

Re: Populating Racks with Initial Inventory

titus_binawa — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 09:48:00 GMT

Thanks!

Re: Populating Racks with Initial Inventory

titus_binawa — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 09:48:21 GMT

Thanks!!